All Articles For Doezema, L

This word is seldom used in our country as far as I know. However, it is very easy to understand how it is used and can be used. To the noun “confession” an ism is attached. Whenever an “ism” is attached as a suffix to a noun it is usually intended not only to designate a doctrine or system of thought but also to disparage adherence to such a doctrine. We often speak of Isms. We speak of Arminianism, Pelagianism, Quakerism, and other sorts of heresies which we condemn. On the other hand there are those who believe in Arminianism...

That the heading of this article is put in question form means to indicate that as far as our Church Order is concerned there is no answer to this question. If there were an answer in the Church Order we would not at all be so presumptuous as to place the heading in question form. It is immediately obvious to us that this question pertains to the very important matter of Christian discipline. Such a question naturally is vital to every believer who seeks the welfare of God’s kingdom here on earth. Very important ought it to be to us...

This subject as we wrote in our last article is putin question form because there is no unanimity of action and conception about this matter in Reformed Churches. It concerns the important question of discipline of adults who were baptized but who refuse to make a confession of faith and partake of the Lord’s Supper, and also such adults who have committed sins for which members of the Church of Jesus Christ are disciplined. I also gave in my last article a brief sketch of some of the actions and opinions of Reformed leaders from the sixteenth century, up to...

The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians stands out in all our minds as the epistle which especially treats the subject of Christian Liberty. In the major portion of this letter, up to chapter 5, Paul carefully explains the Christian’s relation to the law and so establishes the doctrine of Christian Liberty. In the chapters 5 and 6 the subject is applied to our actual life. A study of the epistle is therefore very profitable for practical Christian living. Of fundamental importance to a correct understanding of the subject of liberty in relation to law, which is assigned to me...

It is especially this subject that is the concern of every Christian who has first awakened to the glorious liberty that we have in Christ Jesus and who at the same time reads the perfect law of God. And it is this subject that was the main reason for establishing first of all, in a former article, the meaning of the term “law” as the apostle Paul used it in his epistle to the Galatians. In that article I sought to explain that in that epistle Paul did not use the term “law” in any instance with a reference to...

It was with this conviction that I accepted an appointment to be on a committee to work out plans to have a conference in southern California. This invitation was extended last August and since that time up to the present there have been approximately five meetings held by this committee. It was composed of ministers of four denominations of California. The problem that appeared was the problem to have speakers suitable to all for the program which was tentatively set for July 1945. The minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church objected to having any ministers of the Presbyterian Church of...

The reader will notice that the; above subject is formulated differently from the usual formulation. Usually our attention is drawn to the formulation: “God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility”. Essentially there is no difference in expressing problem in these two ways. However, as the problem formulated above it seeks to bring out the impossibility of denying the sovereignty of God sir any way in history. If we confess God’s providence, as it is implied in Scripture we do more than just speak of God’s sovereignty in His counsel, but we also explain His counsel as a living counsel, a sovereign rule...

Any and every subject that relates to the Christ is of chief interest to the disciple of Christ. Christ’s followers of all ages, those who earnestly seek salvation, carefully observe all that is written concerning the revelation of the Servant of God. And, the above subject has often been the consideration of Christians. That Christ forbade someone to speak of His work, and to spread His fame abroad is a fact. However, this cannot be His purpose and command in every sense of the word. If we consider that He came to reveal Himself to us and that He did...